2022 Lidl All-Ireland PPS Senior C Ladies Football Final – Sacred Heart, Clonakilty 1-11 Our Lady’s Bower 3-3

Orlaith Deasy scored 1-4 and Sacred Heart Clonakilty claimed the Lidl All-Ireland PPS Senior C title at Sean Treacy Park in Tipperary.

Sacred Heart, Clonakilty 1-11 Our Lady’s Bower 3-3

By GER MCCARTHY

A pulsating final saw the Cork school outlast their opponents, Our Lady’s Bower, to deservedly win the trophy by just two points.

The Clonakilty outfit kicked three early wides before goalkeeper Katie Hearne produced an important save.

Our Lady’s Bower hit the front courtesy of a superbly crafted Keeva Reid goal after seven minutes. An Orlaith Deasy free represented Sacred Heart’s solitary response prior to the first water break.

Siofra Pattwell and Deasy raised consecutive white flags before the former clipped the crossbar to make it 0-4 to 1-0 after 18 minutes.

The Westmeath side enjoyed a purple patch with the dangerous Reid rattling the crossbar and punching the rebound to the net. Reid added a point shortly after but their opponents found another gear as Ciardha McCarthy, Millie Condon and Aisling Moloney efforts levelled matters, 0-7 to 2-1, at half-time.

A scrappy third quarter saw Deasy add two more scores to increase the Cork side’s lead to 1-9 to 2-2 at the final water break.

Sacred Heart lost Deasy to a yellow card offence for ten minutes and Our Lady’s took full advantage. Marian Nolan converted a penalty before Alison Nugent levelled it up 3-3 to 1-9.

A nerve-wracking closing period saw Deasy return to the pitch and kick the insurance score after Pattwell landed a long-range free to spark wild scenes at the final whistle.

Scorers – Sacred Heart: O Deasy 1-4 (1f), S Pattwell 0-3 (1f), C McCarthy 0-1, A Moloney 0-1, M Condon 0-1, R Ni Bhuacalla 0-1.

Our Lady’s Bower: K Reid 2-1, M Nolan 1-0 (1-0 pen), T Foley 0-1 (1f), A Nugent 0-1.

SACRED HEART: K Hearne; M Murphy, A O’Brien, R Shanley; M Condon, K O’Donovan, M Kingston; K O’Driscoll, C McCarthy; R Ni Bhuacalla, E O’Brien, L Sutton; S Pattwell, O Deasy, A Moloney.
Subs: A O’Flynn-Meade for McCarthy (47), N Kennedy for Moloney (57).

OUR LADY’S BOWER: C Fitzpatrick; E Fitzpatrick, E Galvin, J Begley; D Ní Ruairc, A McGrath, L Nugent; T Foley, M Nolan; E McGovern, A Curran, L Seery; O Craven, K Reid, S Kenny.
Subs: K Stuart Trainor for Craven (30), A Nugent for McGovern (40), C Fallon for Kenny (47), O Craven for Nolan (63).

Ref – Ciarán Groome (Offaly).